Nail chuck

ABSTRACT

Nail chuck comprising a pair of pivoted jaws forming a bore therebetween, the jaws pivoting about pivot points to permit a punch to drive a nail out of the chuck, the points being adjacent the upper ends of the jaws.

United States Patent Kowalczyk 1 Feb. 22, 1972 [54] NAIL CHUCK 661,310 11/1900 Gwinn ..227/149 [72] Inventor: Adam v. Kowalczyk, 8443 Penelope 1,192,932 8/1916 Rambolt ..227/ 149 Ave" Rego Park 374 1,583,045 5/1926 Hoyt ..227/149 2,829,370 4/1958 Humbert ..227/149 X [22] Filed: May 7, 1970 H v [21] App1.No.: 35,535 Primary Examiner-Granville Y. Custer, .Ir.

AttorneyHarry C. Bierman, Jordan B. Bierman and Bierman Related U.S. Application Data & Bierman [62] Division of Ser. No. 494,467, Jan. 11, 1965, Pat. No.

3,514,467. I 57] ABSTRACT 52 us. c1 ..227 149 Int Cl. M32 [7/02 Nail chuck comprising a pair of pivoted jaws forming a bore [58] mm of Search ..227/149 therebelween, the j pivoting about pivot Points to Permit a punch to drive a nail out of the chuck, the points being ad- [56] References Cited jacent the upper ends of the jaws.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 4 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures 251,316 12/1881 Swift ..227/149 PATENTEU FEB 2 2 I972 SHEET 1 OF 2 NVENTOR BY 6 ATTORNEY NAIL CHUCK This application is a division of my application, Ser. No. 494,467, filed Oct. II, 1965, and entitled Manufacture of Pin-Boards" now U.S. Pat. No. 3,514,028, issued May 26, 1970. i

The present invention is directed to making tackless strips or pin boards such as are currently used in the laying of carpets in order to hold such carpets in place, and more particularly, to a tackless strip-making machine or mechaniam.

While some mechanism has been used to accomplish this result, it was not sufficient for commercial production on an economical scale. These boards are usually about one-fourth inch to about 1 1/16 inch wide and 48 inches long. In prior devices, the board, in order to put in place the necessary pins, was tilted and the pins were driven into the board vertically. There was much hand labor involved in the various steps necessary to make a complete board, containing not only the pins but also nails for attaching said board to the floor. Many operations were necessary in order to accomplish the desired purpose and the mechanism operated quite slowly so that the production from a machine was relatively small.

The present invention is intended and adapted to overcome the difficulties and disadvantages inherent in prior methods and devices for making pin boards, it being among the objects of the invention to provide a mechanism which is'substantially automatic and which requires only a minimum of labor.

It is also among the objects of the invention to provide a mechanism which is simple inconstruction and which may be operated at a relatively slow speed and produce a large number of finished units in a very short time.

In practicing the invention, there is provided an endless conveyor on which the strips of wood constituting the finished product is caused to travel in a direction transversely of its length. The board travels horizontally into a first station where pins for the entire board are driven simultaneously at an angle into and through the strip. Then the board travels to a second station where the boards having the pins therein are reversed or flipped over with the points of the pins extending upwardly. Then at a third station nails are driven vertically into the board but not through the same.

The invention is more fully described in connection with the accompanying drawings constituting a part hereof and in which like reference characters indicate like parts, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of an apparatus made in accordance with the present invention, the showing being diagrammatic;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of a support for the boards located at the first station;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the mechanism at the first station somewhat enlarged;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary enlarged front elevational view of the mechanism at the third station for introducing nails into the boards;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FlG..4 showing the device in a later stage of operation.

Referring to the drawings, the endless conveyor 1 operates between end sprockets 2 and}. At intervals somewhat greater than the width of a strip, ribs 4 are attached to links of the endless chain. At the entrance of the mechanism is a vertical hopper 5 adapted to hold a stack of strips or boards 6, the front faces 7 of which are beveled. As the boards are fed on the conveyor they abut at 8 on ribs 4 and thus are carried along to the left.

The strips pass to a support 9 having a plate 10 fixed thereon. As shown intFIG. 2, narrow slats 11 are attached to the top side of plate 10, spaced apart at a sufficient distance so that the points 12 of the pins pass between the individual slats. The heads 12' are flush with the upper surface of the board.

Referring to FIG. 3 there are provided hollow members 15 and 16 which are open centrally and are held apart by a spacer l7. Covers 18 and 19 form a complete unit. Means are provided for feeding pins 25 into hollow members 15 and 16 containing punches 20 and 21 which are operated by ram 22 extending across the length of the strips. Tubes 23 and 24 have pins 25 therein fed from a conventional nail hopper, all of said pins having the points or tips facing downward. They enter the unit through openings 26 and 27 where the operation of the ram will simultaneously force a complete set of pins over the entire width of the board, into and through the same and flush with the top of the board. Slats ll allow the pin tips to penetrate beyond the lower face of the board and limit the danger of splintering the board.

In order to hold the boards firmly in place through this operation there is provided a plate 29 pivotedat 28 and constituting a backstop. A lever 31 in fixed relation to plate 29 has its free end in contact with lobe 33 constituting a cam follower. The lobe is mounted on disc 34 pivoted at 35 and operated by means (not shown) in the direction of arrow 36, causing plate 29 to move in the direction of arrow 37 to release the end 30 thereof from face 7 of the board.

Upon the release of the board from the first station it travels up an inclined plane 40 being guided by the upper face 41 thereof. When a board reaches vertical end 42 it automatically drops over and reverses its position as shown at 43. The board then travels to the third station 44 which has a block 45 thereon constituting an anvil. In hollow members 46 there are nail punches 47 operated by a ram 48 across the length of the strip. There are provided tubes 49 for the nails 50 and the lower ends of said tubes have openings into the hollow cylindrical members 46. Covers 51 and 52 are provided for cylinders 46 to properly align the nails.

Between covers 51 and 52, anchored thereon, are blocks 53 placed between adjacent members to be described. Each of such blocks has coil springs 54 held in recesses therein, the other ends of said springs being held in recesses in adjacent members. Each of these members consists of a pair of jaws 55 and 56 having a cylindrical opening at the junction 57 thereof. Recesses 58 in the outer faces of the jaws retain springs 54.

As best shown in FIG. 5, recesses 59 and 60 are formed in one face ofjaws 55 and 56 and a plug 61 fixed in cover 51 projects into space 59-60. Each of the jaws is pivoted as shown at 62 and 63 so that when nails are forced into the boards by punches 47, the lower end of the jaws will open as shown in FIG. 6 to allow the heads of the nails to pass out of the jaws at 64. Plug 61 acts as a stop to prevent jaws 55 and 56 from moving beyond the vertical (as shown in FIG. 4) when returning to the closed position. Thus, the junction 57 is always at the correct point relative to punch 47 even though springs 54 may exert unequal pressure.

In the operation of the mechanism, it is quite apparent that as the conveyor moves from right to left and stops at each station momentarily, suitable operations take place with the boards in various stages of completion. Since operations at all three stations take place simultaneously, the loss of time by the periodic stopping of the conveyor consumes only a small fraction of the time necessary to make a complete pin board. The movements of the conveyor, at the stations, the stopping and the starting-up again, are coordinated with the movements of the two rams so that all operations are in synchronism.

There are a number of advantages inherent in the present invention over prior mechanisms intended to accomplish the same purpose. For instance, it was quite common in the prior art that in driving nails or pins into the wood, splitting would take place. In the present invention, because of the adequate support given to the boards such accidents do not occur. In the prior mechanisms they generally produced a maximum of nine strips per minute, whereas with the present mechanism at least such strips per minutecan be made.

In the present invention, because of the provision of jaws between which nails or pins are fed simultaneously all along the length of the pin board, the production is very rapid. In the first operation, the jaws are placed at an angle to the horizontal; this keeps the pins perfectly aligned throughout the length of the pin board. The pin-setting and nail-setting jaws open in a linear direction relative to said board, further aiding the accuracy of placement of the pins and nails. Because of these and other features of applicants mechanism the boards are fed into the machine at quite close intervals. This makes for a compact machine which operates at slow speed, with large production, and the products are practically perfect without exception, being identical in nail depth, nail alignment, and pin depth and pin alignment.

Wherever reference is made herein to board or wood, it is to be understood that other materials may be substituted, as for example, plastic.

These and other changes may be made in the specific embodiments of the invention without departing from the scope and spirit thereof. This invention is to be broadly construed and not to be limited except by the character of the claims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:

1. A nail chuck comprising a first jaw and a second jaw, each of said jaws being pivotable about a pivot point between a closed position wherein said jaws are adjacent one another substantially throughout their length, and an open position wherein said jaws are separated at their lower end, said first jaw having a first inner face and said second jaw having a second inner face, said inner faces forming a bore between said jaws when in said closed position, a punch reciprocable therefore, within the vertical confines of said bore, means for feeding nails into said bore beneath said punch, whereby M reciprocation of said punch forces said nails out of said chuck, each said pivot point being located adjacent the upper end of each of said jaws, and said bore forming the only guide for said punch.

2. A chuck according to claim 1 wherein there is provided resilient means urging said jaws toward said closed position.

3. A chuck according to claim 2 wherein said resilient means is a spring, at least one end of which bears against said jaws.

4. A nail chuck comprising a first jaw and a second jaw, each of said jaws being pivotable about a pivot point between a closed position wherein said jaws are adjacent one another substantially throughout their length, and an open position wherein said jaws are separated at their lower end, said first jaw having a first inner face and said second jaw having a second inner face, said inner faces forming a bore between said jaws when in said closed position, a punch reciprocable therefore, within the vertical confines of said bore, means for feeding nails into said bore beneath said punch, whereby 

1. A nail chuck comprising a first jaw and a second jaw, each of said jaws being pivotable about a pivot point between a closed position wherein said jaws are adjacent one another substantially throughout their length, and an open position wherein said jaws are separated at their lower end, said first jaw having a first inner face and said second jaw having a second inner face, said inner faces forming a bore between said jaws when in said closed position, a punch reciprocable therefore, within the vertical confines of said bore, means for feeding nails into said bore beneath said punch, whereby reciprocation of said punch forces said nails out of said chuck, each said pivot point being located adjacent the upper end of each of said jaws, and said bore forming the only guide for said punch.
 2. A chuck according to claim 1 wherein there is provided resilient means urging said jaws toward said closed position.
 3. A chuck according to claim 2 wherein said resilient means is a spring, at least one end of which bears against said jaws.
 4. A nail chuck comprising a first jaw and a second jaw, each of said jaws being pivotable about a pivot point between a closed position wherein said jaws are adjacent one another substantially throughout their length, and an open position wherein said jaws are separated at their lower end, said first jaw having a first inner face and said second jaw having a second inner face, said inner faces forming a bore between said jaws when in said closed position, a punch reciprocable therefore, within the vertical confines of said bore, means for feeding nails into said bore beneath said punch, whereby reciprocation of said punch forces said nails out of said chuck, each said pivot point being located adjacent the upper end of each of said jaws, a plug is provided which extends into said chuck at the junction of said jaws to center said jaWs in said closed position. 